Lot 113. The Leshantang Collection. An exquisite miniature ruby-red enamelled stem cup, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); h. 3.2 cm. Lot Sold 3,556,000 HKD (Estimate 800,000 - 1,200,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

delicately potted with a deep rounded bowl raised on a hollowed-out spreading stem, the exterior applied with ruby-red enamel of a vivid raspberry-pink tone, the interior and base glazed white, the latter inscribed with a horizontal six-character reign mark in underglaze blue.

Literature: The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 40.

Exhibited: Chinese Art from the Ching Wan Society Collections, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 46.

Note: While Yongzheng miniature stem cups are already a remarkable specimen, it is rarer still to be graced by one enamelled in ruby red. Considered one of the most opulent and extravagant hues of the Qing dynasty, achieving this vibrant pink hue was no easy feat; it took craftsmen years of dedication and countless iterations to perfect the formula. Through their trials and tribulations, the craftsman discovered the key to achieving this delicate shade of pink: by introducing a small amount of colloidal gold as a colour-enhancing agent in the solution. It is believed that Jesuit missionaries brought puce enamel from Europe to China during the Kangxi period, which explains why puce enamel is sometimes referred to as yanghong ('foreign red') in Chinese. Yet, it is more often remembered by its fitting and poetic term, yanzhi hong ('rouge red'), a very lyrical word alluding to the colour of lush lips and rosy cheeks.

Compare an almost identical example (also 3.2 cm tall) preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Porcelains from the Qing dynasty imperial kilns in the Palace Museum Collection], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, part 2, pl. 195; and a puce-enamelled example with a flared mouth recently sold in these rooms, 8th April 2023, lot 3700.

For examples of Yongzheng miniature stem cups in other glazes and motifs, see a blue and white 'Eight Treasures' example in the Taipei Palace Museum (accession no. guci-018002), which was assembled into an imperial inlaid zitan curio box; and a lemon yellow-enamelled example sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2019, lot 3025.

Lot 115. The Leshantang Collection. A rare and moulded lemon-yellow enamelled charger, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 35.7 cm. Lot Sold 2,540,000 HKD (Estimate 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2023

of ogee form raised on a short foot, the lower half of the exterior finely moulded with a continuous band of cresting waves, evenly applied overall save for the base with bright lemon-yellow enamel, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle in underglaze-blue.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 19th January 1988, lot 346.

Literature: Zhongguo mingtao Riben xunhui zhan. Gangtai mingjia shoucang taoci jingpin [Exhibition of famous Chinese ceramics touring Japan. Fine ceramics from private Hong Kong and Taiwanese Collections], Museum of History, Taipei, 1992, p. 186.
The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 37.

Exhibited: Chūgoku meitō ten: Chūgoku tōji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of important Chinese ceramics: Essence of two thousand years of Chinese ceramics], Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo, and six other locations in Japan, 1992, cat. no. 127.

Sotheby's. The Leshantang Collection – Treasures of Chinese Art from the Tsai I-Ming Collection, Hong Kong, 8 October 2023